How effective is a dream journal?

[magician]

Hello! I just wanted to know, how effective would only keeping a dream journal when you want to have lucid dreams. I have had lucid dreams, which i think have been thanks to the dream journal, but i can't remember the intervals between them.

[yuriythebest]

dream journal is not a tool for lucid dreams- it is for dream recall. it might increase your chances slightly since after all you'll remember more dreams, however I'd recommend something like MILD in addition

[pauldack]

From all that I've read.... Without good dream recall, you may already have had and forgotten numerous LD's. For the vast majority of people, dreams (including lucid) are erased shortly following the REM period they occurred in. If you awake immediately following a dream and recall it in your mind, it's like copying it from you temporary dream memory to your normal usable memory. However even this memory will have greatly faded by the morning. Take the effort to record your memory in a journal (paper, laptop, voice recorder etc) and you will greatly enhance your ability to recall that dream in the future. Also, maintaining a dream journal will greatly help you become familiar with your unique dreams which will aid you in recognising your dreams - hence becoming lucid.

[oniman7]

Very effective, though you may not get immediate results. I have a very high potential for auto-suggestion, so the night I decided to keep a dream journal, I got at least one dream a night. For other people, it may take months. However, it is something that I highly recommend you do. Even if you only keep a journal of all your lucid dreams. However, I recommend that you keep a dream journal for every night that you remember. I prefer this format. Date: 4/19/72 Lucid: No Waking time: about 8:15 I woke up and looked around my bedroom. All around the room were parrots perched on various objects. Go on to give more detail. Date: 5/16/84 Lucid: Yes (DILD) Waking time: 9:23 I don't remember what happened before, but I instantly thought "This is a dream". So, I did the first thing that came to mind. I jumped as high as I could. But I forgot to stabilize, and with all the excitement, the dream soon ended. After about 20 or so lucids, many people start to keep them in a separate journal. Another practice that may help is what's known as Dream Cartography, and is a little known thing around here. You create a map outlining either your specific dream, or your entire dream world. This can be anything from a detailed sketch, to a simple thing drawn on paint. 2D or 3D. Overhead or POV drawings. The trick is to find whatever works. The point is that dream journals are an almost necessary tool, unless you find something that works better for you. But you do need to record your dreams to remember more of them.

[magician]

Thanks, but should my writings of my dreams be short or as detailed as they can be?

[Huntman800]

Definitely, although, I suggest getting down the basic details first... The instant you wake up you might start forgetting the dream. A few times I completely forgot a dream while writing it down